Microsoft to Support Open-Source Linux with Novell

Microsoft has struck a deal with Novell to allow open-source Linux software to work compatibly with Windows.

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Microsoft announced in a press conference on Thursday that the company has struck a deal with Novell Inc. to allow open-source Linux software to work compatibly with Windows.

The move is one of Microsoft's most significant endorsement of open-source programs.

"We're here to announce a set of agreements that will help bridge the divide between open-source and proprietary software," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer for Microsoft. "The impetus for this event really comes from our customers. We have customers that use a mix of technologies to manage their businesses and they demand interoperability."

Under the agreement, Novell will be the preferred Linux environment that will interoperate with Windows and Microsoft will distribute coupons for SuSE Linux Enterprise Server maintenance and support so that customers can benefit from the use of an interoperable version of Linux.

Jeffrey Jaffe, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Novell, said that the three key areas of the agreement are virtualization, Web-services management, and document-format compatibility.

"Customers will now be able to run virtualized Linux on Windows or virtualized Windows on Linux," Jaffe said. "Customers continually ask us how they can consolidate servers with multiple operating systems through virtualization. By working together, Novell and Microsoft enable customers to choose the operating system that best fits their application and business needs."

One of the more surprising elements of the agreement is that Microsoft will not unleash its patent lawyers quite so harshly on developers who want to write code for Novell's open-source apps.

"We've made two promises under this agreement," said Brad Smith, senior vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary, legal and corporate affairs for Microsoft. "One is a promise that we won't assert our patents against individual open-source developers. These are individuals that are contributing code, not creating it as part of their job, but acting in an individual non-commercial way. The second is for developers who are getting paid to create code that Novell then takes and inputs into its distribution that is then covered within the open-source agreement between us."

Ballmer said that Novell and Microsoft will collaborate on sales and marketing. Microsoft will purchase 70,000 coupons from Novell enabling a one-year subscription to SuSE. There was no discussion of how much consumers will pay for these coupons.

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Despite the collaboration, Ballmer made it clear that Microsoft and Novell will remain competitors.

"As we cooperate, both companies will continue to do what we do best, which is to compete in the market," Ballmer said. "If you have a new application, I'm going to tell you the answer is Windows, Windows, Windows. Ron is going to tell you something different and that's fine. But we do want to collaborate in the right way as well."

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